Snack time anyone? I am addicted to savoury baked snacks of all kinds and today I feel like posting comfort food so these rolls fit the purpose perfectly. If you love baking like me the comfort starts right in the making! Brazilian bakeries are very different from other bakeries around the world, our bakeries are a blend of grocery store, cafe, deli, bakery and patisserie. Usually there are a few tables so people can sit down to have a meal. Some of the bakeries offer a breakfast or light lunch menu options and many of them take orders for birthday cakes, sweets and finger food for cocktail parties. Many Brazilians start their day at the bakery to have breakfast and ham and cheese rolls are one of the popular foods that are eaten white coffee or a glass of orange juice. These rolls are also commonly sold in school canteens and are a great option for lunch boxes. Originally they are only made with ham and cheese but I changed the recipe slightly by adding the sun-dried tomato pesto. It’s very easy to turn this recipe into a vegetarian one just by omitting the ham, or even into vegan by replacing the egg and milk with soya milk and filling with the sun-dried tomato pesto. The dough is very versatile you can add your favourite flavours, some ideas are regular pesto with goat’s cheese, bacon, spinach and feta, and feta and caramelised onion. The process to make it is quite simple, first prepare the dough, then the sun-dried tomato pesto. After the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 16 equal-sized portions. Roll one portion flat, roughly into an oval shape, then spread a heaped...

Cheese bread is a Brazilian type of roll essentially made with cheese, tapioca starch, eggs, milk and oil. These little beauties are originally from the state of Minas Gerais located in the south-eastern part of Brazil. Minas Gerais is one of the leading producers of cheese in the country and is where many of the typical Brazilian cheeses were invented. For example, Minas cheese is a type of fresh cheese with mild and salty taste, and a rubbery texture. It is appreciated in the morning with some fresh bread or as dessert with either guava paste (which is called Romeo and Juliet) or with dollops of dulce de leche. Prato cheese, which is yellow and sharp in taste, was created in the 20s and its recipe is inspired in the Danish cheeses Dambo and Tybo and the Dutch Gouda and is commonly sold in brick shapes. The production of the soft Catupiry started in 1911 and is a cheese that is added to many popular recipes like ‘prawns in tomato sauce with catupiry‘, ‘chicken with catupiry‘, ‘catupiry pizza’ or ‘catupiry and chicken fritter’ (coxinha). The cheese culture of the estate of Minas Gerais resulted in the creation of many recipes with cheese including these rolls. They are extremely popular in Brazil and eaten any time of the day: for breakfast with a cup of coffee, as a mid-morning or afternon tea snack. In many restaurants it is served as an appetiser with dips. Cheese bread rolls are also found anywhere you go in Brazil. In bakeries they are freshly baked on a daily basis and usually it is possible to find more than one type of cheese bread. In the supermarkets many types of cheese bread are sold...

Açaí is a small, flavoursome dark purple berry that grows in a palm tree indigenous to the Amazon forest and has been famous around the world for quite some time due to its nutritional properties. Açaí is popular not only because it is full of vitamins, but is also very delicious. Considered a super food in healthy restaurants and shops, the fruit has been eaten by the indigenous tribes of the Amazon for hundreds of years. In the Amazonian kitchens, one of the traditional recipes is the açaí mousse which is usually served with a soft meringue or decorated with tapioca pearls. Last thing: I warn you that açaí is quite addictive! I remember when I tried my first spoon ever I thought: hummm, quite exotic, the second spoon I went: OK, interesting!, the third: not too bad, the fourth: so yummy, I want to eat the whole bowl! Since then, here at home our fridge has always been packed with this smoothie. Ingredients 2 x 750ml Amazoo Açaí Smoothie(Banana or Guaraná flavour) * Crunchy Granola: ½ cup (70g) rolled oats ½ cup (100g) Brazil nuts, roughly chopped ½ cup (50g) shredded coconut 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 ½ tbs honey 1 tbs macadamia oil 50g dried pineapple, roughly chopped 50g banana chips Greek or plain yoghurt, to serve You will need to start this recipe overnight Instructions 1. Pour smoothie in ice-cube trays and freeze overnight. Just before serving transfer to a food processor and blend until creamy. 2. For the granola, preheat oven to 170&deg;C‏, fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts,...